Thursday 5/20: Last Full Day in Kanazawa

I:m falling far behind on my blog posts- Im sorry, but Friday we started travelling so my computer access has been sporadic.

Thursday was definitely pretty bittersweet. The IFIE staff put on a going-away party at a very nice local hotel, with really delicious food (especially the chocolate cake... yums :D) I got to dress up in the Yukata that I bought- this is the last time Ill have someone around to help me put on the yukata, Ill have to learn how to do it by myself in America. My host parents also came, and it was nice to hang out with them. Now that Ive gotten more fluent in Japanese, I feel like I can communicate with my parents more and so I enjoy being around them more. THere was also a slideshow at the party with many an unflattering picture of myself and others in the class.

After the class my parents had to return to work, so I went with SIrocco and her host family to an older section of Kanazawa, which was really cool. All the buildings were old and in the Japanese style- wooden, no glass windows really, etc. We went to a few gold leaf shops, fabric shops, and a place where you could drink tea and try to play the shamisen (Japanese banjo). The instrument seems fairly easy to learn, though I was struggling since I dont really know how to play any string instruments.

For my final dinner with my host parents, they took me out to a local Japanese food chain restaurant- kind of like the Japanese version of a more upscale Denny:s I suppose (Dennys is huge here btw, as is Dunkin Donuts and a place called Mister Donut). I had really delicious Tonkatsu and a huge platter of other stuff- rice, miso soup, etc. How do the Japanese stay so thin? Their meal portions are huge, and most of the food either has a ton of carbs or is deep fried, or both!

My host family also gave me a few going-away presents: a scarf, a Japanese/English childrens book (since I was reading all the time) and a small zipper pull with a dog that looked like Chiffon on the end. I am going to miss my host family, and I really hope I can stay in touch.